We're Still On Fire
by ShaelynnSophia
Summary: As the Wizarding War continues to rage Hogwarts loses its feeling of safety causing eight Gryffindor students to develop a need to fight.
1. Gryffindor Tower

**Disclaimer: All credit for the wizarding world goes to J.K. Rowling**

It was the last Hogsmeade weekend before winter break, and yet all the sixth year Gryffindor's were hard at work in their common room. Professor McGonagall had assigned a particularly difficult Transfiguration paper after a few too many shenanigans took place in the village the month before. No one ever proved that the sixth years were at fault, but given the track record of a few specific students, it seemed probable.

Sirius Black was an exception to the group. He had plans for the day and was not going to waste it doing Transfiguration. The only problem was he needed a partner in crime, and his usual supporters had already denied him. However, when Sirius came downstairs, he was met with the perfect choice. Sitting by herself, reading a book was Sophie Holland.

Plopping himself down in the chair across from her, he tried to catch her attention. "Hey Soph, you finished that paper already?"

Sophie, always stubborn when it came to Sirius, refused to look up until she had finished the page she was reading. When she finally did, a small smile played across her lips. Unbeknownst to Sirius, she had a little soft spot for him, but she would never let on.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I finished last night," she arched her eyebrows, "but I reckon you haven't."

"Well you see Soph, the thing is I'm rather distracted."

She sighed and closed her book, resigned to the fact that she would not be allowed to finish until she helped him. "Pray tell Sirius, what is troubling you?"

His eyes gave off a sparkle, but if asked, Sophie would deny she noticed. "I've got an appointment in Hogsmeade, and you're going to come with me."

"Oh okay I see how it is, I'm 'going' to go with you. Why do you figure that?"

Sirius leaned in and whispered, "if you must know, there's an apparition tester in Hogsmeade right now. Being the organized man that I am, I made an appointment, but I bet if you ask really nicely you can take yours today too."

The blood immediately rushed out of Sophie's face, "I'm not ready."

Sirius let out a surprisingly loud cackle, and across the room, Lily Evans turned to stare at them. Sirius shrugged at the redhead causing her to roll her eyes before turning back to her paper.

"I saw you no less than four times leaving the apparition office in the ministry."

If Sophie's face could go any paler, it would have. "Were you following me in the summer?"

Sirius furrowed his brow as he realized what he had just admitted to. "Sounds like it, doesn't it?" Instead of offering more of an explanation he got up and took a few steps toward the door. "Come on let's go, Soph; you can question me more on the way."

Sophie would have said no to Peter or Marlene or likely anyone else, but that stupid soft spot got the best of her once again.

When they were out in the end of autumn air, Sophie let her fears get the best of her again. "If I fail you're not allowed to mention it to anyone."

"How about you just don't fail?"

Sophie tossed her head in the air and laughed. "You know you drive me crazy, don't you Sirius?"

He shrugged, "I try my best," and it was true. While Sophie had a soft spot, Sirius had more of a crush. A six-year long crush to be specific, but Sophie didn't know that. All she knew was that he had been with what felt like all of Hogwarts and was currently with a Hufflepuff by the name of Maxine Corwin.

Sirius wasn't one for pining, unlike his best friend, James Potter. Yes, he'd admit that he liked Sophie a little more than a friend should, but he'd also say 'so what?' He'd never act on it.

* * *

"Hey Lil," Dorcas Meadowes grabbed the attention of her desk mate. "Do you know what the Principle of Artificianimate Quasi-Dominance is?" She pointed to a section in their textbook, "it's got something to do with messing up your conjurations but beyond that I'm confused."

Lily bit her lip as she read what Dorcas was pointing to. "Beats me, reckon you'll have to head to the library."

Taking a look across the room at James Potter, Dorcas began, "or you could ask–"

When retelling the story Dorcas would say that Lily lunged across the table at her, but really all the redhead did was blush and firmly respond, "no."

"Here's the thing," Dorcas tied her hair up in a bun, as she was known to do when she wanted someone to take her seriously. "James is the top of the class, but he's too stubborn to help me. Yet, you're kidding yourself if you don't think he'll help you."

Lily stole a glance at James, "better idea; you could ask Sophie, she's just as smart as Potter."

"Normally you're right, but," she gestured to where Sophie had been previously sitting, "she left with Black ten minutes ago."

"Merlin," Lily sighed as she stood up resigned to her fate. "Today is not my day."

* * *

Marlene McKinnon finally set down the quill she had been twirling for the better part of an hour. "You know if we work a little faster we could probably make it down to Hogsmeade for a quick butterbeer."

"You're going to have to work pretty fast Marlene, considering you haven't written anything yet." Peter Pettigrew didn't raise his eyes from his page, but his statement was correct, and a usual occurrence for Marlene. He liked working with her, but in all honesty, it made his skin crawl when she could throw together an assignment at the last minute and still receive a great mark.

"Maybe we should just go now. You look like you could use a break. Besides," she said picking the quill up to twirl again, "Black and Holland left ages ago, and Potter is clearly distracted by Lily, if no one else is working why should we?"

Peter lifted his eyes to analyze the room, and he realized Marlene was right. It didn't seem very probable though that Sirius had left with Sophie; he'd have to question his roommate later. "Florence is working," he pointed out when he noticed her curly blonde hair behind Marlene.

The words caused Marlene to laugh, but she quickly stifled it. "You know she got an acceptable on her O.W.L., McGonagall only let her take the class as a favour." Marlene leaned closer to Peter and lowered her voice more than it already was. "Rumor has it the Minister for Magic asked her to. Florence's dad works for the American Ministry, and with the way the war is going we may need them in our back pocket if things get really ugly."

"Who told you that?" Peter's face had become slightly paler than usual.

She shrugged, "I have my sources, but I don't need Black or Potter spreading this around, so keep your mouth shut."

Peter nodded his head; he was used to being forced to keep quiet.

* * *

Remus waited until Lily was safely out of earshot before smirking at James. "Well aren't you just a shiny cliché."

"I'm not her knight if that's what you mean, I was just being helpful." James avoided Remus' eyes, a known sign that he didn't believe his own words.

"Helpful you say?" Remus tapped his quill loudly on the table until James finally looked at him. "I heard Dorcas ask you that exact same question at breakfast."

James' eyes darted away, "well I didn't have the answer then. Besides Evans will just tell Meadowes anyway, no reason to fret about it."

Remus turned his attention back to his paper, but his smirk was still present. "Don't you worry Prongs, I'm not fretting."

* * *

A/N

Happy 2019!

Its hard to believe but its been just past two years since I published the last chapter of Lily Evans and Marlene McKinnon's Easy Guide to Marauding. I have done a lot of writing since then but somehow I ended up pulled back to the Marauders once again, and I couldn't be happier about it.

This chapter is an introduction to the eight main characters (with a little mention of Florence the ninth sixth-year Gryffindor). While most of the names are recognizable this is my original take on the characters and is separate from my other works.

If you ever have any questions throughout this journey please feel free to PM me and I'll get back to you as soon as possible.

Shaelynn Sophia


	2. The Future is Coming

It was after six when Sirius and Sophie came through the portrait hole. They were both grinning; it was clear Sirius had just made a joke.

While most of the Gryffindors had made their way to supper, James and Remus were there to catch the entrance of the unusual pair.

When Sirius noticed their presence, his smile dimmed, but only for a moment. "We have news."

Sophie blushed, but even Sirius' awkward phrasing couldn't take away from the pride she felt. She thought for sure she would fail but as she put it to James and Remus, "we passed our apparition tests."

James was the most shocked; he'd seriously thought for a second that they'd eloped. Remus, less of a romantic, just nodded his head, "that's awesome guys."

Sophie beamed, "thanks so much." She took in the empty common room, "I'm going to head down to supper, see you lot later."

"Bye Soph," Sirius called as she disappeared out the door.

"So," James drew Sirius' attention, "you spent the whole day alone with Sophie?"

"Don't look at me like that mate; it was nothing." Sirius ran his hand through his hair, "you know I'm seeing Corwin."

Remus laughed, "by 'seeing' I assume you just mean shagging."

Sirius glared at him, "in case you forgot we've been dating for months. It's not like I jumped her the first time we met."

"Don't mind him Padfoot, we all know Moony's just mad he's not getting any."

Remus shoved James, and he exaggeratedly fell into a nearby armchair. That was the way it was between the Marauders, a whole lot of drama for a usual lack of reason.

"Come on lads," James hoped up, "I've been told there's going to be an excellent chocolate cake for dessert."

* * *

"Look, all I'm saying is there's plenty of careers where you don't need a Transfiguration N.E.W.T., maybe I should consider one of them."

Peter sighed as he finished chewing a potato, "or you could just write the paper, Marlene."

Dorcas leaned over, "Pete's right Mar, you don't want to limit yourself. Plus," she took a sip of pumpkin juice, "we all know you're capable of writing it. If you have some trouble, I'm sure Florence can help you." Dorcas said the last part with a smirk.

The ever-chipper Florence didn't notice and from her seat across the table, nodded vigorously at Marlene. "McGonagall gave me some pointers so I'd be happy to help you Mar."

Peter let out a snort but quickly covered it by pretending to choke, "meat's tougher than usual. Can you pass the water pitcher Florence?"

She nodded, her curly blonde hair swaying. At the end of the day, Florence was a really good person, but she was oblivious, and that didn't bode well with her fellow Gryffindors. They saw themselves in the middle of a war, and she saw herself as simply a student in boarding school. Neither was wrong, but it's not too difficult to understand why they clashed.

"Hey, Sophie's back," Dorcas gestured over to the Ravenclaw table where Sophie was sitting next to her siblings.

Lily, who was sitting next to Dorcas, rolled her eyes as her friends all turned to notice Sophie. In simple terms, she wasn't exactly Sophie's best friend. If you asked the other Gryffindors, they would say the girls were too similar. They were both near the top of the class and thus undoubtedly the most studious Gryffindors at the school. Each had been teased for her freckles and complimented on her smile; neither was despised by anyone except maybe some Slytherins. Dumbledore trusted them both, and that fact would change their futures, connecting them both whether they wanted it or not. Until then, however, they would never understand the other.

* * *

Sophie Holland was a triplet. Her sister and brother were both in Ravenclaw, so she could often be seen at their table in the Great Hall.

Her sister, Lyla, was enjoying a strawberry tart on this particular autumn day. "Do you think Mom will make snickerdoodles this year?"

Emmeline Vance, a fifth year, let out a little gasp, "your mom knows how to make homemade snickerdoodles?"

Lyla smiled, "yeah Em, if you want, I could post some to you over the break."

Emmeline had been an orphan for as long as she was at Hogwarts. That was all anyone knew. She refused to talk about it. That didn't stop people like Lyla from caring though.

Sophie turned to her brother, Henry, and lowered her voice. "Don't tell Ly, but I went to Hogsmeade and got my apparition license."

Henry only looked shocked for a moment. "Congrats Sophie, that's amazing," he wrapped his arm around his sister and gave his trademark small smile. "Did you go by herself?"

A small rosiness coloured Sophie's cheeks, "no, I actually went with Sirius."

Henry tried not to react too strongly; he didn't want Sophie to regret sharing it with him. "That's right, he turned seventeen at the beginning of November, didn't he?"

"Don't play dumb to spare my feelings; you were at his birthday extravaganza." Sophie wasn't mad, but she didn't see the point in putting up a false front.

Henry nodded, "why'd you go?"

"He asked me to, and you know Sirius, he's very persuasive."

"Well," Henry took a bite of chocolate cake, "I'd say that persuasiveness isn't quite as effective on men as it is on women."

Sophie swung one leg over the bench so she could face Henry directly. "Is there a reason I shouldn't have? I couldn't think of one, so I thought why not?"

Henry put down his fork. "Sirius Black feels personally victimized by this war." He stopped, and Sophie thought that was it, but then he took her hand. "You can do anything after Hogwarts Sophie, don't get dragged into his dark world."

Sophie knew Sirius would fight until Voldemort was dead, and maybe that wasn't smart, it definitely wasn't safe, but someone had to do it. If no one did, the whole world would burn.

* * *

A/N

Hello again!

I have mixed feelings about this chapter. I had to rewrite the part about Sophie and Lily's relationship multiple times but beyond that, I'm pretty happy with how this one turned out.

Hope you're all having a great day

Shaelynn Sophia


	3. Sirius' Mittens

The day winter holidays came was always a dividing point among Hogwarts' students. It singled out orphans like Emmeline and students like Sirius whose families did not welcome them home. No matter what side students fell on, they all shared in the joy of no more classes until the new year.

For the Holland triplets, it was the best day of the year. They were always glowing as they left, they had numerous traditions that they couldn't wait to start. Sophie, for one, didn't even look back until she was out of King's Cross Station.

The McKinnon sisters were incredibly giddy. They were going to meet their nephew, Archie, who had been born in October. Normally Marlene would stay at Hogwarts, but she couldn't give up the opportunity to meet her first nephew.

Lily had debated back and forth but ultimately didn't want to face her sister, Petunia. The two had a huge fight in the summer and hadn't spoken since. Lily was waiting for an apology that she knew Petunia would never give, and so she was resigned to stay at Hogwarts.

Florence was headed overseas to spend the holiday with her American family. It was a constant discussion point among the Gryffindors as to why her parents didn't just enroll her in a school there.

Since Lily was staying Dorcas figured she should too. She could go home, it's not like she had family problems, but it didn't hurt her to stay.

The Marauders, as always, all chose to stay, which is also an explanation as to why Dorcas stayed. It just wasn't fair for Lily to have to handle the boys all alone.

* * *

The remaining sixth years were sat around the fire in the Gryffindor common room on Christmas Eve. A towering tree had been set up earlier that month and was covered with red and gold decorations. Through the tower windows, snow could be seen drifting to the ground. It was as if Hogwarts was forcing them to embrace the season.

"What is it?" Lily snapped the book she was reading shut, "what's this year's prank?" James looked up at her but said nothing. "Well?" Lily was rather agitated, "I don't want to spend my holiday vomiting because I decided to drink the punch."

Dorcas nodded, "she's right, can't you give us a bit of a heads up? Gryffindor to Gryffindor?"

James ran his hand through his hair, "there's no prank this year."

Lily looked about ready to punch someone. "Why in Merlin's name would I believe you? You've never missed an opportunity for a prank."

Pointing over to where Sirius sat, removed from the group, James said, "Padfoot decided to knit mittens for all the Professors. Figured that was punishment enough."

"What's the catch? Are they going to burst into flames?"

James chuckled, "they're just mittens, Lily. Maybe they'll start to unravel, but that's just because of poor craftsmanship."

Lily finally took the time to examine Sirius. Sure enough, he was hard at work doing the ribbing of a sunny yellow mitt. His tongue was sticking out of the side of his mouth as he pearled a stitch. It was rather funny which Lily found pleasing when considering the inappropriate pranks of years past.

Peter piped up, "don't distract him, Lily. He's got two more pairs to finish by tomorrow."

She sighed, turning back to the group, "fine, but if something goes awry, I'm blaming you personally Potter."

James smirked, "I wouldn't have it any other way, Evans."

* * *

It was a good four hours later when Sirius exclaimed that he had finished his last stitch. A couple of seconds later he cried out as he tried to relax his hand and found it cramped in a claw-like position.

"Sirius," Dorcas said thumbing through a magazine, "why didn't you just use enchanted needles?"

"What?" Sirius stared helplessly at his claw.

Dorcas nodded, flipping another page. "My mom has some. You just enchant them with whatever pattern you want, and they do the work for you."

Sirius' eyes went wide, "you mean I didn't have to?" He raised his hand to emphasize its position.

"That's exactly what I mean."

The three other Marauders looked like they were about to explode. They all bore similar smirks, but there was something different in James' eyes that made it clear to Lily that he had previous knowledge of enchanted needles.

Sirius cursed under his breath before mumbling that he was headed to bed.

"He's probably got the right idea," Remus let out a yawn and then got up off the sofa he'd been sprawled upon. "You coming Wormtail?"

Peter nodded and preceded to follow Remus up the staircase to the boy's dormitory. When they were gone Dorcas turned her attention to James.

"Do you want to hit the pitch tomorrow morning? You could really use the extra practice." Dorcas smirked, she'd been giving James flying lessons for over a year, and while he hated admitting it, he needed them.

That's not to say James was a bad flier, he was brilliant, but by some miracle, Dorcas Meadowes was the best flier at Hogwarts. She was absolute rubbish at Quidditch, something about multi-tasking, but that left her more time to perfect her flying.

"Okay but I'm bringing a quaffle."

"Fine," Dorcas gathered up the magazines she'd been reading, "you ready to head up Lil?"

Lily had sunken deep into her seat and scrunched up her nose at the question. "There are too many stairs."

Dorcas shrugged and headed upstairs, moments later the sixth year girl's dormitory door could be heard clicking shut.

James wasted no time, "if you want I can carry you upstairs."

"That would make you happy wouldn't it."

"Absolutely delighted."

"Hey," Lily leaned upside down over the armrest, her red hair pooling on the ground, "can I tell you a secret?"

James tried to hide his excitement, "sure, what is it?"

She smiled, "I'm on to you Potter," then swung her head up and walked straight up the girls' stairs to her dormitory.

James was left, his lips slightly parted, trying to figure out what in Merlin's name Lily Evans was on about.

* * *

A/N

Hello Friends

Hope today is going well for you and that you enjoyed this chapter.

Shaelynn Sophia


	4. The Prophet

New Year's Eve 1976 was the worst day of Sophie Holland's life. There would be plenty more terrible days to come, more than any person deserved, but this one was the first, and it topped them all.

Mr. and Mrs. Holland worked for the Daily Prophet. They'd been to over thirty company New Year's Eve parties that weren't attacked by Death Eaters, and one that was.

The news reached Hogwarts late the next morning. Many faithful Prophet workers had banded together to publish the day's issue. They wanted to be the ones to tell their own story.

Lily Evans was eating breakfast when the paper arrived. The headline read "Nine Dead." Within minutes she had left the Great Hall, her toast abandoned mid-bite. Lily ran all the way to Gryffindor Tower, and up to the bathroom Dorcas was showering in.

After hearing her repeated cries Dorcas emerged, hair dripping, in a towel.

Lily choked out, "Death Eaters attacked the Daily Prophet." She tried to catch her breath, but it was no use. "Sophie's parents," her voice cracked, and Dorcas moved forward to grasp her before she fell to the ground. "They're gone Dorcas; they're both gone." Dorcas's shoulder muffled Lily's words, but they were heard, nonetheless.

It didn't matter that Lily didn't get along with Sophie, death was death. She had lost a parent and couldn't even fathom what it must feel like to lose both.

"Lily," Dorcas loosened her grip around her friend, "you need to go wake up Remus. Dumbledore is going to need you prefects to organize the rest of the students." Lily didn't move, and Dorcas held her gaze, "I know it hurts a bloody lot right now but don't give in Lil. We won't win this war if we don't fight."

When Lily swung open the door to the sixth-year boys' dormitory, the first thing she saw was a boxer-clad James Potter. Before he could say anything, she thrust the paper at him. Her tightly clenched hand had badly damaged it, but it was still legible.

Within moments James began banging on the bathroom door. Across the room, Peter poked his head through his bed curtains.

"What's going on?" He began rubbing his eyes with his palms, "is Lily alright?"

James took a glance at Lily's puffy eyes, "no she's not, and neither are any of us." His hand went to his hair, "Death Eater's attacked the Daily Prophet's New Year's party."

"What?" Remus was standing in the doorway to the bathroom, Sirius was behind him.

"Sophie's parents are dead."

All eyes went to Lily. Even James, who had the paper, had not taken a look at the names of the dead. Sirius pushed past Remus to grab the Prophet from James. He took his time reading through it, and the other boys gathered around. Dorcas slipped through the door just before he finished.

All Sirius said before leaving the room was, "I'm going to find Dumbledore."

Dorcas wanted to say 'there's no point,' but she let him go because what else were they going to do? Sophie was at home; there was nothing they could do for her at Hogwarts.

Lily wanted to go with him, but she couldn't face Dumbledore while crying. Dorcas had been right earlier; it was time to be strong and to fight.

Peter wanted to go back to bed but knew he couldn't. Dumbledore would call for all the students soon enough.

James wanted Lily to stop crying, but he didn't want to comfort her. He wanted to fight the Death Eater's and put a stop to the pain that caused her tears.

Remus wanted to write a Potions' paper. Or do virtually anything other than worry about death and war.

"You should go after Sirius," Lily looked at James. "Someone needs to make sure he doesn't act too rashly." Lily had stopped her tears; it was time to act.

James went over to his trunk and began pulling out clothes.

Peter had picked up the paper which Sirius had dropped. "Did Nikki Shacklebolt go home?" None of his friends paid him much heed until he continued. "Says her mom died too."

Dorcas shook her head, "you must be misreading that Pete. The Shacklebolts are a pure-blooded family; there's no way they'd be attacked.

Remus took a look, "he's not wrong." His gaze lingered for a while taking in the nine pictures. "The Hollands aren't exactly descended from muggles either; maybe this wasn't about blood."

James rejoined the group, now fully clothed. "What are you saying, Remus?"

Everyone in the room, including James, knew exactly what he was insinuating, but Remus clarified anyway. "The Prophet is the main source of information on the war, and they've never claimed to be supportive of Him, it's not that far of a stretch to believe he'd want to shut them up."

"No one is safe," the words surprised even Lily, who spoke them. "Unless you side with Him, you either have muggle heritage, or you support those who do."

"Blood traitors," Dorcas supplied the term, but they were all familiar with it.

James exited the room; he didn't need to hear any more.

"I should go find McGonagall, see if she wants me to round up the other Gryffindors." Lily made for the door, but Remus stopped her.

"Lily you're safe here, we're all safe here. Dumbledore would never let anything happen within these walls."

It was barely noticeable, but Remus could've sworn she smiled. "We're going to have to leave Hogwarts long before this war is over."

While they could all deny it then and force themselves to believe it could end soon, Lily Evans turned out to be right. They would graduate in 1978, and the war would continue until 1981.

"Lily–"

"I love you, Peter. I love you all. I love James Bloody Potter for what its worth, but it's not worth much. It doesn't change what I am." She shook her head trying to stop the tears from coming back. "All that love doesn't change the fact that my very existence inspires hate."

Dorcas wanted to say 'love does mean something' but it was a stupid cliché, and frankly at that moment she didn't even believe it. Lily was right, Voldemort had chosen to hate muggle-born witches and wizards just for existing. There was nothing anyone could do to change that except kill anyone who believed it, and where would that leave them? Dorcas couldn't imagine hurting, let alone killing anyone; she just didn't have that amount of hate in her body even for terrible people like Death Eaters.

Finally, Remus said, "I'll come with you to find McGonagall."

The two left, and Dorcas and Peter went to the Great Hall to eat while they waited. Dumbledore briefed all the students, and then everyone went back to their winter break activities. That was it. Sophie's parents were dead, and Lily was hated just for being born, but that was it. That's all that happened. Looking back, it feels like something big should've marked it all but the days went on, and the students began to forget about the severity of the war. They were, after all, just kids.

* * *

A/N

Hello all,

I wrote this chapter a month ago and finally forced myself to make time to upload it! Hope you enjoy it. Make sure to message me if you have any questions.

Have a good one

Shaelynn Sophia


	5. Two Types of Gryffindors

When Henry told her he wasn't ready to go back to Hogwarts, a part of Sophie broke. After her parents died, she thought she couldn't feel any worse, but as she would come to learn in the following years, not all pain was equivalent.

Sophie didn't expect Lyla to come, but she didn't depend on Lyla as she depended on Henry. He kept her steady and never shied away from telling her when she was leading only with her heart. Sophie did that a lot, lead with her heart. She was never very good at thinking things through before she acted, but luckily, Henry had been by her side since birth.

Unbeknownst to Sophie as she stood on platform 9 and ¾ waiting for the train, in the next 37 days, the time it took Lyla and Henry to return to Hogwarts, she would start thinking with her head and stop being as dependent on her brother. At that moment, however, she couldn't imagine it and instead felt only emptiness.

* * *

Lily sat down next to James on a sofa in the Gryffindor common room. The rest of the students would be arriving later that day; it was time to soak up the last couple hours of silence.

James looked at her, but only briefly, before turning his attention back to the other side of the room. Sirius was sat there by himself, staring out a window. His fellow Gryffindors would argue that he hadn't moved from that spot in days.

Lily couldn't understand, "you'd think he was madly in love with her by the way he's moping."

It took a moment for James to understand what she was saying. "No, it's not like that." He ran his hand through his hair, trying to figure out how to explain Sirius to someone who didn't understand him as James did.

"Then what's it like Potter because he hasn't smiled since he found out about her parents."

"You don't always get to choose how you feel, Lily." James took a deep breath, noticeably exasperated. "Sirius is with Maxine, but" there was no way of finishing that sentence without making Sirius sound terrible.

Lily furrowed her brow, "but if Sophie asked, Maxine wouldn't matter?"

James felt like he had dug his own grave, "contrary to popular belief he's not a bad person. He just doesn't know how to handle his feelings."

"Seems like there's a lot of that going around here."

James felt like she'd slapped him. "Evans, if you think I was ever not upfront with you you're fooling yourself. You've known how I felt since the beginning."

Lily shook her head, "it's impossible to ever know what's a performance and what's real with you, Potter." They were both silent for a moment before she continued, "trust has to be part of a relationship, and we never had it."

Instinctually he ran his hand through his hair, "I'm sorry," he looked straight into her eyes, and if you asked Lily, she'd say right into her soul, "that I was never someone you could trust."

Once she had recovered, she shook her head. "don't take all of the blame for what happened." Lily bit her lip, "part of me never wanted to trust you, even when the rest of me knew that I could."

"Do you trust me now?"

"Of course."

James nodded, "so if you trust me now," he paused, "and I feel the same way I've always felt," another break, "then what am I supposed to do with that information?"

Lily didn't regret saying she trusted him, she did not doubt that she did, but she wasn't ready to let him in any farther than she already had. "I don't want to say no," she began to chip at the sapphire polish on her nails, "but there's too much happening right now."

"You mean the war?"

She shrugged, her eyes becoming glossy. "I know it's ridiculous, but I need to figure out who I am in this mess and what I'm going to do. I'm not ready to make any commitments."

"Can you commit to a friendship?" His face was solemn, but Lily could tell James was teasing her.

She began to laugh, every trace of sadness erased from her features. Lily extended her hand toward him, "friends?"

James offered a reassuring squeeze before formally shaking her hand, "friends sounds great. Now," he said, pulling his hand away "I have to go hide Sirius away, so Sophie doesn't see him when she gets back."

Lily was confused, "you think she's coming back already? Her parents just died."

"Oh, I know she's coming back, she's too much of a Gryffindor." That fact was part of the reason that James was one of the only people to believe Sirius and Sophie could actually work as a couple.

"I stayed home for a week after my mum died." Lily arched her eyebrows, "am I not a true Gryffindor, Potter?"

He smirked, "not at all, Evans, Dear. My logic is that all Gryffindors can be split into two categories." It was an idea James had been working on since third year. "Those like Sophie, Sirius, Peter, and Dorcas, who are brave for the purpose of being brave, and those like you, Marlene, Remus, and Florence, who are naturally brave in their core."

"Which are you?"

James shook his head, "a guy can't judge himself, Evans." He thought about it for a second, "but if I'm sure of one thing it's that the Sorting Hat serves a purpose. We're all in Gryffindor for a reason, whether or not you agree with my logic."

Lily pursed her lips, "I like it. I mean, for once I actually understand what you're saying." She didn't often like to give James unwavering credit, "although I do think saying Florence is brave is a bit of a stretch."

"If you actually got to know her, you might think differently."

Lily scoffed, "excuse me. I didn't know the two of you were great chums."

The corners of James' mouth quavered slightly, "nah not like that. I've just gotten really good at observing."

She nodded solemnly, "it seems to go that way when you're young."

James knew she was talking about the war because when did everything not lead back to it? Everything they did inside Hogwarts' walls failed to matter if the war didn't stop, and so it was never far from James' mind.

"We'll be fighting soon," Lily murmured the words, both scared and in a sense, enticed by them.

For once, there was no point arguing with Lily Evans. No matter how hard he wanted it, James could not foresee a future where she was wrong.

* * *

A/N

This chapter has been a months-long battle for me. It was written along with the original chapters I posted, and I have come back to it multiple times but never committed to posting it. Since I last posted a lot has changed in my life. I transferred out of the English program at my University and into the faculty of Social Work. I am so much happier and more motivated to finish this story than I ever was in my old program. I still have a busy schedule, but I want to get back into writing, and I hope if you're reading this you'll come along for the ride with me.

Thank you all for your support

Shaelynn


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